Christ Evangical Lutheran Church, Fairfax

At Christ Lutheran we understand children. They are an important part of the the Christ Lutheran family. If you prefer, we have a full nursery available upon request that provides child care for infants and toddlers. Each Sunday children are invited to come forward for a short Children’s time where they will get a brief explanation of the week’s lesson. Speakers in the nursery and the lobby (Narthex) allow you to listen to the service even if you need to take your child out of the Sanctuary. Christ Lutheran Preschool is a small nonprofit Christian preschool. As an extension of the Christ Lutheran Church we seek to provide an atmosphere of Christian love and understanding. These pages are intended to answer your questions regarding philosophy, procedures and policies. Please keep this handbook for future reference. Goals and Philosophy Our emphasis is on social development. We feel the total development of the preschooler is far more important than the acquisition of factual knowledge. The child’s social development and self-concept are most important at this point. Basic to this development is consideration and love for others… lessons which cannot be learned with rigid rules and regulations, but require a relaxed and loving atmosphere. The following list of basic goals have been derived from the philosophy stated above. During each child’s time with us, we hope that he/she will learn to do the following: learn to interact with others learn to share in work and play learn to assume responsibility for one’s actions learn to take pride in achievements and, by the same token, acknowledge mistakes learn to express ideas and feelings learn to make choices learn to compromise and contribute within their group learn to finish started projects In addition, while our emphasis is on social development, we do recognize that the preschool years are a time for growth and learning in many areas. For this reason, our curriculum will include appropriate experiences with these activities: Free-play and group sharing Stories, puppets, and drama Alphabet Numbers and counting Arts and crafts Music Fine and gross motor development Outdoor play Field trips Mid-morning snack Bible-based weekly chapel Family activities Preschool Programs TWO-YEAR-OLD CLASS: This class is a play-group-type program for toddlers who will be two years old by September 30. THREE-YEAR-OLD CLASS: Three-year-olds have a choice of attending two days a week or three days a week. To be in the three year old class, a child must be three years old by September 30 and must be toilet trained (no diapers or pull-ups). FOUR-YEAR-OLD CLASS: The four-year-olds have a choice of attending three days a week or four days a week. Children must be four years old by September 30th to register for a four-year-old class. Children must be toilet trained. SCHOOL SCHEDULE The two-year-old classes meet twice a week — one class meets on Tuesday and Thursday and the other meets on Wednesday and Friday. Classes will be from 9:30 am to 12:00 noon. All other preschool classes will meet from 9:15 am to 12:00 noon. There are two classes for three-year-olds: Tuesday/Thursday mornings, and Monday/Wednesday/ Friday mornings. We recommend that young threes enroll in the Tuesday/Thursday program. There are two classes for four-year-olds: Monday/Wednesday/Friday mornings and Tuesday/ Wednesday/Thursday/Friday mornings. We recommend that the young fours enroll in the Monday/ Wednesday/Friday class. School is in session from September through May. The preschool follows the same general schedule for holidays as the Fairfax County public schools unless a specific exception is scheduled by the director and a notice is given to the parents.